The subject invention is related to a slaughtering process apparatus which administers various liquid compositions into the cardiovascular system of animals.
The subject invention is specifically concerned with an apparatus for use in the treatment of animals rapidly, painlessly, and irreversibly approaching death, by administering treatment solution into the animal's circulatory system. The apparatus, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,007,336 and incorporated herein by reference, is useful in the treatment of beef, horses, hogs, poultry, deer, buffalo, camel and the like. The apparatus may be portable or permanently located.
When processing an animal, it is necessary to remove the blood from the animal. Because the circulatory system of animals is so convoluted, approximately half the blood of an animal drains unaided during normal bleeding. The blood remaining in the body serves as a source of elements which promotes bacterial growth particularly magnesium, calcium and iron which can also have a deleterious effect in meat. In order to help ensure that all blood is drained from the animal, and to facilitate the treatment of animal muscle, a fluid is typically introduced into the circulatory system of the animal via a catheter or other device through an incision in an artery and the remaining blood rinsed out through a severed vein. It is understood that for the purposes of the present disclosure, the word vessel is intended to include arteries, veins and any other bodily lumen.
Maintaining the sanitation of such devices has been difficult because of the materials used in the construction of such devices, the tendency of the catheters of such devices to become contaminated with air-born and other contaminants, and the tendency of such devices to slip from the animal becoming contaminated with other contaminants from the floor of the processing area.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a sanitary device which provides treatment solution to an animal and which is capable of being securely attached in a sanitary manner to the animal. It is a further object of the present invention to provide a method for the treatment of animals using the apparatus of the present invention.
These and other features of the invention will become apparent from the detailed description provided below.